A new year, a new edition of the pilgrimage to Caacupé! The festivities surrounding the annual pilgrimage to Caacupé in the Cordillera Department started late last week. The Tupãsy Ka’akupe, or the Virgin of Caacupé in English, is very important in Paraguayan culture. It all started in the 1600s when a Guaraní man named José, who had converted to Catholicism, was walking in the forest. He saw a group of native people who decided to fight European expansionism. He was afraid of them and hid behind a tree. José told himself that if he survived, he would carve the Virgin Mary with the wood of that tree, which, in the end, he did. Later on, Jesuit missionaries said that miraculous water had sprung up in the area. It was needed at the time with the extreme summer heat. A long time after, with the flood that created the Ypacaraí Lake, people feared the village would also be flooded. Father Luis Bolaños blessed the water, which allegedly stayed to its current limit since then. At that moment, they saw the carved image of the Virgin Mary made by José reappearing floating in a wooden box. Since that time, they called it the Virgen of the Miracles of Caacupé. In 1769, Father Roque Melgareco gave a piece of land to the construction of a temple in her honour. People started to trek to Caacupé, and the rest is history. Pope Francis declared the Caacupé Church a Basilica in 2015 when he came to Paraguay.
The Festival of the Virgin of Caacupé offers different events and processions based on themes. Most of the themes revolve around hope, and most of the holy masses are presided over by the Bishop of Caacupé, Ricardo Valenzuela.
Pilgrimage to Caacupé Events Schedule
Thursday’s Theme, 5th December: “Hope Does not Disappoint.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Gabriel Escobar of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Chaco.
11 AM: Procession from the Temple of Tupãsy Ykua.
12 PM: Prayer of the Angelus.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Francisco Pistilli of Encarnación.
Friday’s Theme, 6th December: “Peace, Justice, and Communion as Sign of Hope.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Joaquín Robledo of San Lorenzo.
- Arrival of the Pilgrimage of the Virgin of Itatí.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela of Caacupé Presiding and Friar Edgar Toledo, Executive Secretary of the Biblical Pastoral Animation Preaching.
9 PM: Holy Mass
Saturday’s Theme, 7th December: “Young People are the Joy and Hope of the Church and the World.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela of Caacupé Presiding and Friar Vicente Segovia Colman, Director of Radio María Paraguay Preaching.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Mgr. Pedro Jubinville, Bishop of St. Peter the Apostle.
- National Youth Pilgrimage.
Sunday’s Theme, 8th December: “Bearers of Hope with the Indigenous Peoples.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela of Caacupé Presiding and Father Miguel Flitz, Apostolic Administrator of the Vicariate of Pilcomayo, Preaching.
- National Pilgrimage of Indigenous People.
- Piligrimage of Horsemen.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Presiding and Father Alberto Luna Preaching.
9 PM: Holy Mass.
Monday’s Theme, 9th December: “Communities and Families that Care for Life as Signs of Hope.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Pedro Collar Noguera of Ciudad del Este.
- National Pilgrimage of the Clergy.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Presiding and Father Alberto Luna Preaching.
9 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Roberto Zacarías of Canindeyú.
Tuesday’s Theme, 10th December: “Hope for the Sick, Abandoned, Impoverished and Marginalized.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela of Caacupé Presiding and Father Blas Arévalos, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Villarrica.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Emeritus Ignacio Gogorza of Encarnación.
Wednesday’s Theme, 11th December: “Hope for the Deprived of Liberty and People with Addictions.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Miguel Ángel Cabello of Concepción.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Amancio Benítez of Benjamín Aceval.
9 PM: Holy Mass.
Thursday’s Theme, 12th December: “The Care of the Common Home as a Necessity and Sign of Hope.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Cardinal Adalberto Martínez, Archbishop of Asunción.
- Pilgrimage of the Armed Forces.
- Pilgrimage of the National Police.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Presiding and Father Tomás Sosa Preaching.
Friday’s Theme, 13th December: “We are all Pilgrims of Hope, Especially the Migrants.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Presiding and Father César Nery Villagra.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Presiding and Father Bonifacio Romero Preaching.
- Pilgrimage of the Catholic Communicators.
Saturday’s Theme, 14th December: “Consecrated Life: Pilgrims of Hope and Peace.”
Schedule:
7 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Juan Bautista Gavilán of Coronel Oviedo.
7 PM: Holy Mass with Fray Leoncio Vallejo.
- Pilgrimage of the CONFERPAR – Conference of the Religious of Paraguay.
Sunday’s Theme, 15th December: “Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.”
Schedule:
1:30 AM: Holy Mass of the Salesian Congregation of Paraguay.
3 AM: Holy Mass of the Society of Jesus.
6 AM: Holy Mass with Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela of Caacupé.
9 AM: Holy Mass of the Cooperating Priests of the Basilica.
11 AM: Holy Mass of the Cooperating Priests of the Basilica.
3 PM: Holy Mass of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary.
5 PM: Holy Mass of the Congregation of the St. Vincent de Paul Mission.
7 PM: Holy Mass of the Schoenstatt Movement with Father Tommy Nin Mitchell.
The weather announced could be better for the two most important days of the festivities. Yet, it has time to change. The weather forecast for December 7th is an 86% chance of rain and between 21 and 28 degrees Celsius. On December 8th, the forecast is a 77% chance of rain and between 21 and 27 degrees Celsius. If the weather is uncomfortable, pay attention and listen to your body. A reminder that heavy traffic will be stopped from Thursday to Sunday in the area and that multiple bus stops have been implemented on the way to Caacupé.
